By Alex “MereKat” LeMere
The Buffalo Bills nearly pull off a tremdenous comeback win…but a Cardinals’ miracle hail mary as time expired secured Kyler Murray the win over Josh Allen.
The Buffalo Bills came into the deserts of Arizona yesterday like Wile E. Coyote to take on the roadrunner Kyler Murray and his Cardinals. The Bills were rolling into this one with a 7-2 record coming off an impressive 44-34 over the Seahawks. On the other hand, the Cardinals were 5-3 following a 34-31 at the hands of the Dolphins after getting outscored 10-0 in the fourth quarter.
Both teams’ centers of attention revolve around their young, exciting quarterbacks. Josh Allen is back in MVP talks and has the full confidence of #BillsMafia to lead us to success. Kyler Murray has been nothing short of impressive as he was ranked 13th in the league in passing AND eighth in the league in rushing before this game. A true test for both of these quarterbacks in what was shaping up to be a battle.
This game lived up to the hype and some. I won’t get into it and leave that to the recap, but I’d be curious to see my heart rate patterns the last minute of the game that saw not one but two game-winning touchdowns.
Let’s dive right into the rollercoaster ride this game played out to be:
Buffalo defers to the second half and kickoff to Arizona to get this game rolling. Kyler Murray flashes his legs for the first time early as he scrambled for 3 on third-and-2 before running back Chase Edmonds rips the Buffalo defense like a tight pair of pants for 25 into Buffalo territory. Arizona marched their way in no time behind Drake and Edmonds to a first and goal at the Buffalo 7. Rookie CB Dane Jackson, recently called up from the practice squad, makes an incredible play in coverage of DeAndre Hopkins on third down to force a FG after a menacing opening effort by the Cardinals. Arizona takes a 3-0 lead just over five minutes into the game.
Andre Roberts stays hot and takes the kickoff out of the end zone for 40 yards to start Josh Allen and the offense at their own 37-yard line. Buffalo comes out throwing (not a surprise after last week) as Allen hits Knox for six yards and then climbs the pocket to find a crossing Diggs for 10 yards and the first down. Then the former Cardinal, now Bill, John Brown, smokes the defense on a receiver screen for 31 yards to the Arizona 14-yard line. Then trickery! Brian Daboll reaches deep in his bag of tricks as Isaiah McKenzie takes an Allen handoff that he then throws back opposite field to Allen, who takes it in for the 12 yards receiving touchdown. Buffalo creates some magic and take the lead, 7-3. A great play call wraps up a scoring drive that featured Allen’s great execution and a strong effort from the patchwork offensive line.
A miscue from the Cardinals’ offense leaves Kyler Murray susceptible to a free rush by Taron Johnson that has Murray slide for a sack. The “sack” brought up a third-and-13, but the Buffalo defense holds a Hopkins reception to just six yards as A.J. Klein cleans things up. Arizona punts it away to the Buffalo 33-yard line.
McKenzie gets involved as a receiver catching Allen’s opening pass for 7 yards. After Moss fought for just two yards to set up a short third-and-1 for Allen, he promptly sneaks it for the easy first. Perks of having a giant, mobile QB. Facing a second straight third down, Allen prances to extend the play and finds John Brown as he comes back on his route for the wide-open first. A great adjustment by Brown and ability from Allen to extend a play. Another third down, this time for nine yards, for the Bills’ offense, and Allen makes his first bad play of the game as he forces a deep ball to Singletary that should’ve been picked off by Patrick Peterson. McDermott marches out his rookie kicker, Tyler Bass, to attempt his career-long field goal from 54 yards out. No problem for the Bass Man as he clinks the kick through for three points and Buffalo pulls ahead further, 10-3.
Kyler kicks things off fast for Arizona’s offense hitting Hopkins, who abuses the zone defense with a crosser, for 28 yards into Buffalo’s half of the field. Two straight false starts against the Cardinals halt things a bit and lead to a third-and-13 for Arizona. But of course, Buffalo doesn’t want to be left out, so Jerry Hughe$ gets a penalty to give them a third-and-8 that Kyler Murrays converts to Dan Arnold. Dan Arnold sounds like a guy who sells air conditioning in Depew. Buffalo’s third-down defense almost falters again, missing multiple sacks attempts on a dancing Kyler Murray who can’t find an open receiver and runs out of bounds for the “sack.” Zane Gonzalez comes out to attempt the 42-yard field goal for the Cards and connects to chip away at Buffalo’s, now, 10-6 lead. A credit to Buffalo’s secondary to blanket all of Murray’s targets there and the pass rush for flustering him.
Allen continues to produce in all three facets of offensive as he zooms ahead on the opening play for nine yards leading to Singletary taking his second carry of the game for 13 yards and the first down. After a long incompletion out of bounds, Allen shakes it off and drills the current league-leading receiver, Stefon Diggs, for 14 yards. A bad look for Singletary in his battle for touches as he drops an Allen screen…a tough look that sets up third-and-10. A questionable delay of game adds five yards to their third- and-10, and Allen hits McKenzie for just two yards to set up the FG. No problem for the Bass Man as he bangs it home from 55 yards out this time and the Bills extend their lead by three, now leading 13-6. Feels like we settled a bit there, but points are points.
Buffalo’s defense continues to get pressure on Murray but can’t bring down the elusive QB. They fluster him. Kenyan Drake continues his strong game thus far with a 9-yard reception before a 13-yard rush for the first down. Buffalo’s top pick in the 2019 draft, A.J. Epenesa, finally tracks down Murray for the big sack on third down…but got damn Dan Arnold. The used car salesman takes a pass from Murray for seven yards to convert the fourth- -and-5 and keep the Cardinals’ offense humming like the A/C Units he sells. Kyler Murray continues his ability to convert third downs and puts on a show with his feet on third-and-13 to set up a first-and-goal. Buffalo has kept him in check but needs to contain and catch him better. Hughe$ makes a veteran play on second down and swats away Murray’s pass and forces a crucial third-and-goal. Throwing to the same spot, Jordan Poyer reads the pass and attempts to make a play, nearly intercepting the ball but creating a fourth-and-goal. Arizona plays it safe and settles for three and trail just 13-9 before the half.
Buffalo doesn’t just play it safe and run the clock out with just about a minute left in the half as Allen took advantage of a big hole and ran it up the middle for 15 yards. Following an Arizona timeout, Allen and the offense get a free third-down conversion thanks to an Arizona penalty. Beasley picks up nine yards and is taken down just outside field goal territory. Allen nearly takes it himself for the first down but is stood up and stopped, something we’re not used to seeing, and we bring out Bass for the third time today for a 58 yard attempt…AND THE ROOKIE SQUEEZES IT THROUGH FROM 58 yards out!! Buffalo goes into halftime lead in Arizona 16-9.
A wonky, yet efficient, first half on both sides of the ball have the Buffalo Bills holding onto a 16-9 lead at halftime!
Halftime Grades:
Bills – A- … Buffalo could easily be leading this game by more had they not settled for field goals, and we’re a little more efficient on third down in the second quarter…but that’s all the negative I have. Tyler Bass has broken his career-long three times this half, Allen is 11/18 for 109 with a receiving TD, and the defense has kept Kyler Murray under pressure. The offensive line, dealing with more flux, is holding up well against a tenacious defense. No punts and no turnovers bumped this from a B+ to an A-.
Cardinals – C+ … Kyler Murray is the only reason Arizona is still in this game. Some huge plays in clutch spots like the conversion on third-and-13…but Buffalo has kept away the big play. DeAndre Hopkins had just four catches for 40 yards against a depleted Buffalo secondary, but Edmonds and Drake have combined for 88 yards on 12 rushes to help the offense stay afloat. Arizona’s defense has done a good job eliminating Allen’s deep ball but hasn’t been able to bring much pressure at all.
I don’t think either team played bad that first half. They just left something on the field. I expected Arizona to ramp things up coming out of halftime and start to test the likes of Dane Jackson and A.J. Klein more in the passing game. If Buffalo wants to hold their lead and win this one, we need to see their defense stay stout (now I want a nice, roasty stout) and Allen to complete more passes downfield.
Here we go to start the second half and Andre Roberts to just the Buffalo 10 in a rare bad return by the pro bowl returner. Allen continues to pass underneath the Cardinals’ secondary with a 5-yard completion to Brown. Then a 6-yard completion to Diggs before a short pass to Beasley for 13 yards. I love the efficiency and Josh letting his receivers have a chance to make the play, but I’m thirsty for a deep ball. Allen faces some heavy pressure and gets rid of the ball for a second straight time to bring up a third-and-10. Buffalo started converting their first three third-down attempts but have failed to convert the last three, and that trends continued here. Allen throws it quickly to John Brown for the wide receiver screen, but Beasley can’t execute his block, and the Bills lose five yards on third-and-10. Bojo punts it away for the first time today.
Arizona hands off to Drake on the first play of the drive, AND HE COUGHS IT UP!! Taron Johnson forces the ball out, and it rolls back a bit before Dane Jackson envelops it for a Bills recovery. Now that is a game-changing play, folks!
A penalty and a couple of Zack Moss plays later, and the Bills had a second-and-2 at the Arizona 22-yard line. Allen makes his best pass of the game as he finds a wide-open Beasley streaking to the right and the end zone for the 22-yard score. Beasley absolutely shook Peterson off the line to get open and make up for the missed block last drive on a great route, catch and run. Buffalo doesn’t waste the field position and extend their lead to 23-9 with 9:52 left in the third quarter. We needed that after the fumble recovery and poor end to last drive. Allen stays resilient and takes his time letting his receiver get open instead of forcing something quickly, and I love it.
Murray hits Christian Kirk for nine yards and a first after an opening rush by Drake, but bad news for the Bills as CB Dane Jackson is injured on the field. He walks himself off but is replaced by Daryl Worley, and the next play Hopkins burn the secondary for 35 yards, his longest catch of the day, to the Bills’ 28-yard line. Arizona gets a penalty doesn’t matter as they charge for 28 yards in the next four plays to set up a Kyler Murray rushing TD. Death, Taxes, and Kyler Murray rushing TDs are the only guarantees in life. Arizona widens the gap and now trails Buffalo 23-16.
Andre Roberts takes the kickoff out of the end zone again and tries to get cheeky with it but is taken down at the 12-yard line for the second straight kick return that he should’ve taken a touchback on. After a 1-yard rush by Singletary, Allen nearly hits Beasley for the first down, but it goes off his fingertips to force a third down. Allen swings it short on third down again, this time to Diggs, but Diggs can only get five yards on the third-and-9. I don’t know if Allen is playing it safe with the lead or if it’s Arizona’s secondary not giving him anywhere to throw it, but Allen is a bit off right now. Buffalo goes to punt, and Bojo absolutely SHANKS IT, and the punt nets just 12 yards.
Arizona starts this drive after the disgusting punt and riding momentum with a favorable field position at Buffalo’s 30-yard line. Edmunds on Edmonds crime on the first play as Tremaine takes down Chase for a 1-yard loss. A.J. Klein looks serviceable again, preventing Murray from doing much and holding him to 4 yards on second down. On third-and-7, Micah Hyde makes a great play to break up the pass, and Buffalo gets a moral victory keeping Arizona out of the end zone. Gonzalez hits the short field goal and now trail by four points, 23-19.
A tough 14-yard rush by the rookie running back Zack Moss starts the drive with some heat for the Bills. After a rush for nothing and off-setting penalties, Allen finally lets it fly on second-and-10, and the route is jumped nowhere near its target by Patrick Peterson for the turnover. A rare interception from Allen this season, and the Cardinals get the ball back in good field position again.
Murray finally gets some blocks and completely rips the Buffalo defense with his INSANE speed 28 yards to the Buffalo 28-yard line. Not good at all for the Bills. Daryl Worley gets targeted again and called for pass interference as Dane Jackson is still on the sidelines. Kyler Murray makes the most of the opportunity this time and sprints into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown following the PI. Arizona finally makes the Bills regret a mistake and take the lead 26-23 with eight seconds to go in the third quarter. 17 unanswered points by the Cardinals and the Bills need to shake it off if they want to have a chance to win this game—another awful third quarter by this Bills team.
Starting to reel and without the lead for the first time since early in the first, Josh Allen needed to get this offense going and shutting down the Cardinals’ rally. A huge conversion on third-and-6 following a couple of rushes was a nice start. Allen targets Dre Kirkpatrick on John Brown down the right sideline, but Brown falls but doesn’t draw a penalty. A questionable play call on second-and-10 as the Bills run it with Singletary against a stacked box. Arizona brings the heat again, and Allen chucks up the balls as he is being spun to the ground, and somehow Singletary catches it…but loses five yards, and the Bills punt again. At least this time, it went for more than 20 yards!
Buffalo run defense continues to be soft, especially on the outside, as Drake bounces the first play of the drive for 20 yards and right into Buffalo territory. He wasn’t down there, taking the next two carries for 15 yards and another easy first. With things looking bad, Kyler Murray delivers a strike to Larry Fitzgerald, but the ball bounces off his body as he hit the ground, and Poyer comes up with the football for Buffalo. It goes to the booth, but there’s not enough evidence to overturn it, and Buffalo gets a massive break.
Knox gets the opening pass from Allen and reaches for the first down up the sideline. Buffalo finds themselves with a first-and-20 following two more sloppy penalties, and Allen finds his safety blanket, Beasley, for 12 yards to set up a manageable second-and-8. Oh, but wait, this game wouldn’t feel right without some more penalties, so thankfully, Singletary gets a 15-yard unnecessary roughness to back them up 15 yards. Allen comes up huge though and delivers a deep ball to John Brown, but Brown is injured on the play and, you guessed it, another penalty, Third-and-33, why not? Allen is able to hit Diggs for 21 yards, but it’s not enough, and we bring out Bojo again.
A huge punt by the Bills complemented by some great coverage pin Arizona at their own 2-yard line with under seven minutes left in the game. A third- -and-1 situation for Murray after two rushes and Buffalo makes another huge defensive play to keep the Bills in this game. Micah Hyde traps Murray and is able to sack him down for a 6-yard loss. The Cardinals punt it away after about just two minutes.
Buffalo kicks things off with another penalty on the punt return, and Buffalo starts at their own 48-yard line…but it proves not to really matter. Josh Allen gives it right back to the Cardinals as Dre Kirkpatrick hops a pass intended for Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis for his second turnover of the day. An absolute crusher for Buffalo and relying on the defense again.
Murray gets the ball back at his own 41-yard line and looking for a touchdown drive to end this game. Back-to-back incompletions put the Cardinals’ offense against a crucial third-and-10 and are shutdown by the Buffalo front seven again. A.J. Klein makes a massive play and takes down Kyler Murray for a loss of six yards. The defense is making plays in this game late after some earlier miscues.
With the game in his hands again, Allen needs to bounce back and stay calm in situations like these. A short pass to Diggs and an incompletion put Allen in yet another must-convert third-down situation. This is for Konze…BEASE NUTS comes up huge as Cole Beasley climbs the ladder and makes an astounding one-handed catch to convert for the first down and keep the Bills’ drive alive. Allen scampers for 12 yards and shows he’s not the only rushing QB in this game a play later for another first nearing midfield. A second-and-5 ball to Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis is broken up as the Bills try and get into range for Tyler Bass to tie this game. Allen continues to FEED Cole Beasley as he hits him on third down for seven yards and another conversion with under two minutes left in the game. Maybe Allen’s best throw of the day comes a play later as he hits Beasley again for 17 yards to the Arizona 30-yard line and in prime field goal range…and a chance to even win this.
Then magic.
Josh Allen throws a perfect pass to Stefon Diggs for a 21-yard touchdown to take the lead. A perfect throw to where only Diggs could get it, with Patrick Peterson in coverage, to take the 30-26 lead with under a minute in the game.
Kyler, desperate for a touchdown to win this game, completes his first two passes for 23 yards to give his team a prayer but also wasting their timeouts. A first-and-10 near midfield with 11 seconds, Buffalo’s defense just needed the prevent the big play here to secure victory. What would this game be without two miracles? Kyler Murray chalks it up to his All-World receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the touchdown on the 43-yard hail mary. Hopkins made the catch over three Buffalo defenders. Arizona takes the lead with just a second left in the game. 32-30. Game over.
What.The.Fuck. is all I could think to myself and my heart dropped like a 7-year-old from Poughkeepsie riding the Tower of Terror for the first time.
Fulltime Grades:
Bills – B … I mean…Josh Allen threw the go-ahead TD to Diggs. He didn’t have his best day, but he did enough to overcome the shortcomings on defense and give us the chance to win. I want to bury them for allowing that game-winning TD to DHop, but that’s not enough. The defense made some great stops late on Murray and the Cardinals, but the breakdown on the last play was just gross.
Cardinals – A- … They had a great second half to charge back and score 17 unanswered points and take the lead before the Diggs’ score. Their run game was effective all day and set up Kyler to make some game-changing plays. Kingsbury had his offense play it safe throughout, and outside of a few mistakes, they took full advantage of Buffalo’s injuries.
An absolute heart breaker for all of #BillsMafia as Hopkins climbs the ladder and comes up with the catch in the end zone, with three Bills’ defenders around him, to end the game. Just the absolute worst way for Buffalo to lose this game after taking the lead 20 seconds earlier with a last-minute TD pass from Allen to Diggs.
It was a terrible beat, and the Bills’ entire secondary seemed to be in shambles with Wallace and Norman missing. Milano still being out didn’t help either. I’m not making excuses for this team, we lost in the worst fashion possible, but we didn’t look awful. Allen showed resiliency and made a play to win the game when needed.
Let’s say THANK GOD we’re going into the bye week and have a chance to get healthy and fix the team’s apparent issues. 7-3 after 10 games with four wins over .500 teams? I would’ve been thrilled with that had you told me in August. This loss was pure heartbreak but by no means a season-ender.
Kat’s Korner Takeaways:
- Offensive lines Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde act: The first half…the line looked incredible. They kept Allen upright, made a couple of holes (just a couple) for the run game, and did a good job of helping Allen extend plays. The second half? Completely different story. Allen was constantly trying to evade Cardinals’ defenders and found himself get knocked to the ground consistently. When Allen’s under heavy pressure, not his typical make one defender miss and run to the sidelines evasion, but actual duress off the snap…is when he makes his biggest mistakes, which was apparent in the second half.
- Are we the worst third-quarter team in history? In this game, we allowed 17 straight points to the Cardinals in the third quarter. I won’t do a deep dive into the stats because it’s something wildly obvious to anyone who watches this team. I’m not sure if we lose our fizz at halftimes or if McDermott’s adjustments take a bit to take effect…but it’s a problem.
- We need an intact secondary coming out of the bye. Josh Norman and Levi Wallace were unavailable for this game due to Covid restrictions, and their absence was glaring. Dane Jackson made a handful of nice plays, including breaking up an early TD. Sadly, the rookie CB got banged up and was out for a spot where Worley got abused. Taron Johnson showed flashes of his rookie campaign and contributed a sack and a forced fumble, but is still a liability in coverage. Seeing White, Poyer, and Hyde get beaten on the Hopkins TD is a gut punch, but I don’t think Arizona is in the situation to win if their secondary was healthy all game. The pass rush did a great job of forcing Kyler to get rid of the ball fast and not having a real opportunity for his receivers to break anything big (minus that last play).
- PLAGUING PENALTIES. Flat out penalties are KILLING this team at times. If you read this weekly recap, it’s something I’ve been yelling at walls about recently. Down three points late in the fourth quarter, this team racked up four penalties for 35 yards. Something winning teams can’t do to stay winning teams. A total of nine for 69 (nice…but not really) yards isn’t great at all. McDermott preaches discipline, so get this shit straightened out.
- Cole Beasley is a DOG. Yes, it was Stefon Diggs and not Cole Beasley, who led the NFL in receiving coming into this one, but Beasley displayed once again why I call him Allen’s “safety blanket.” Beasley finished the game with 11 catches for 109 yards and a TD…but those don’t show how clutch he was. The one-handed catch along the sideline to extend the drive was masterful, and the way he beat Peterson off the line for his easy score was equally as impressive. If it’s a crucial third-down or late in the game looking to move the chains, Allen seems to rely on Beasley in those situations.
One Response
Missed watching the game but reading your recap really put excitement into this. Keep writing, great job!!